Friday, August 19, 2011
"It was nicknamed "The Flying Egg.""
"The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was a fighter aircraft, conceived during World War II and intended to be carried in the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a defensive "parasite fighter." Because of its small and rotund appearance, it was nicknamed "The Flying Egg." McDonnell built two Goblin prototypes (USAF Serial no. #46-523 and #46-524). During wind tunnel testing at Moffett Field, California, the first prototype XF-85 was damaged. Consequently, it was the second aircraft that was used for the initial flight trials; its first flight was on 23 August 1948. As a prototype B-36 was unavailable, all XF-85 flight tests were carried out using a converted Boeing EB-29 Superfortress parent ship. On the first flight, after a little over two hours it became obvious that turbulence around the bomber created difficult control problems. In flight, the tiny fighter was stable, easy to fly and recovered well from spins.[2] However, many pilots found it difficult to hook the Goblin to its bomber's trapeze."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment